Carbon capture is now defined by a handful of mature technology families rather than a single dominant solution. Each pathway offers different trade-offs in capture rate, energy demand, scalability, and ease of integration.
Yet almost all are marketed as “next generation.” But for investors and decision makers, the most important question is which technology is mature enough, and in what context, to justify long-term capital.
What are carbon capture and storage technologies?
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies reduce emissions from power plants and industrial sites by separating CO₂ from gas streams and preventing it from reaching the atmosphere. Typical applications include cement, steel, refining, chemicals, waste-to-energy, and gas processing, where process emissions are difficult to avoid solely through fuel switching.
Captured CO₂ is then conditioned, compressed, and either stored in geological formations or converted into products, such as fuels, chemicals, or aggregates.
How do carbon capture technologies work?
In most CCS systems, CO₂ is separated from gas streams or air using one or more of the following approaches:
- Solvent absorption: Liquid solvents, usually amine-based, absorb CO₂ at low temperatures and release it upon heating, producing a concentrated CO₂ stream.
- Solid sorbent adsorption: Functionalized solids bind CO₂ on their surface and then release it when exposed to heat or pressure changes. Rotary contactors and modular beds are common designs.
- Membranes: Polymer or composite membranes selectively allow CO₂ to pass through faster than other gases, driven by pressure differences, with no solvent handling.
- Cryogenic separation: Gas streams are cooled below the CO₂ frost or dew point so CO₂ can be removed as a solid or liquid while other gases remain in the gas phase.
- Direct air capture (DAC): Specialized solvent or sorbent systems remove CO₂ directly from ambient air, regenerating a concentrated CO₂ stream for storage.
- Mineralization: CO₂ reacts with calcium or magnesium-rich materials to form solid carbonates that lock carbon away on geologic timescales.
Once captured, CO₂ is conditioned and moved to storage or utilization sites through:
- Pipelines for high-volume, continuous flows
- Ships, barges, rail, or trucks for flexible routing or early-stage projects
Then, CO₂ can be:
- Injected into deep saline aquifers, depleted oil and gas fields, or suitable formations for long-term storage.
- Used in enhanced oil recovery or other industrial processes.
- Mineralized into solid carbonates, such as synthetic limestone aggregate, that embed CO₂ in construction materials
Top 10 carbon capture technologies in 2025
These are the technologies already deployed or piloted at an industrial scale to capture CO₂ from real plants and prepare it for transport, storage, or use.
CarbonCloud (Revcoo) – Cryogenic separation
Fully electric cryogenic system that cools flue gas below the CO₂ frost point so CO₂ forms dry ice, with cold recovered in a closed nitrogen loop. The technology is suited for post-combustion streams containing impurities that are difficult to remove with solvents or sorbents.
SLB Capturi – Solvent-based system
Amine process with direct contact cooler, absorber, regenerator, and compression units using the S26 solvent. Deployed at large power, cement, oil, gas, and hydrogen sites, with capture efficiency around 90% with an energy use of around 444 kWh per ton of CO₂.
Filtree (Value Maritime) – Solvent-based system for shipping
Exhaust gas cleaning unit for small and medium vessels that removes sulfur, particulate matter, and roughly 40% of CO₂ from ship exhaust. The captured CO₂ is stored in a removable on-board “CO₂ battery” that is offloaded in port for use or storage.
PolarCap Process (MTR) – Membrane system
Post-combustion capture process using Polaris membranes to separate CO₂ from flue gas at relatively low pressure. Achieves around 90% capture in pilots for power, cement, steel, and chemical plants, with energy use near 360 kWh per ton of CO₂.
Skyrenu direct air capture – Solid sorbent DAC
This DAC system operates continuous adsorption and regeneration in monolithic reactors, removing CO₂ from ambient air. Designed for modular deployment at storage or utilization sites, powered by low-carbon electricity.
Ortloff CO₂ Fractionation (Honeywell UOP) – Cryogenic separation
Cryogenic distillation system that separates high-purity CO₂ from hydrogen plant tail gas or syngas. Integrates compression, dehydration, refrigeration, and fractionation to deliver dense-phase liquid CO₂ and hydrogen-rich offgas, with capture efficiency near 99% for high-CO₂ streams.
URSA (Svante | 3M VeloxoTherm) – Solid sorbent adsorption
Modular rotary adsorption unit with structured solid sorbent panels in a rotating drum that moves through adsorption and regeneration zones. Designed for high-throughput industrial flue gas, with efficiency around 92.5% and energy use of about 653 kWh per ton of CO₂.
Andritz amine capture process – Solvent-based system
Post-combustion capture process using liquid amine solvents in an absorber–desorber sequence. Targeted at iron and steel, cement, pulp, and paper plants, with CO₂ removal up to 95% and CO₂ purity up to 99.9%.
OASE blue (BASF | Linde) – Solvent-based system
Amine-based process for industrial flue gases with direct contact cooling, absorber and desorber columns, and optimized regeneration to reduce steam demand. Handles a wide range of CO₂ concentrations across power, cement, steel, oil and gas, and transport sectors, with capture efficiencies up to 95%.
Geomimetic mineralization technology (Blue Planet Systems) – Capture mineralization
Process that reacts CO₂ with calcium from waste materials such as demolished concrete or steel slag to produce synthetic limestone aggregate. The aggregate is used in concrete, embedding roughly 440 kilograms of CO₂ per ton of product.
Can CCS technologies help to combat climate change?
Carbon capture can reduce emissions in sectors where alternatives are limited. The technologies presented here demonstrate that there are different ways to approach CO2 capture, and that are already being applied at an industrial scale. Nonetheless, each option imposes specific constraints on cost, energy use, integration, and storage availability.
CCS is therefore best viewed as one element in a wider decarbonization strategy that also includes energy efficiency, process changes, fuel and feedstock shifts, and renewable energy.
Its long-term role will depend on credible storage, robust monitoring and verification, and policy frameworks that reward verified tons of CO₂ rather than announcements.
